Is Ada Colau the catalyst that Sumar is looking for?

BarcelonaThe debate surrounding broad coalitions has shaken the left since Gabriel Rufián brought it to the forefront. The proposal has engaged the Comuns, who are working in discreet meetings to revive their coalition to the left of the PSOE with Izquierda Unida, Más País, and Sumar, after Yolanda Díaz's party lost momentum following successive electoral defeats and the conflict declared against it by Podemos. With this new coalition, sources within Comuns assert that the Catalan party will have a "more prominent role" in the new project, which aims for greater "horizontal" collaboration among the member parties now that there is no longer a nationally representative force, as Podemos was until 2019 or Sumar at its inception. The ultimate goal remains to find a "winning formula" to re-establish the coalition government and avoid a PP-Vox coalition.

But, beyond the party leadership, there is a voice that has long defended left-wing alliances as an antidote to the far right. It is that of the former mayor of Barcelona, ​​Ada Colau. who has supported Gabriel Rufián's proposal from the beginning And, in fact, she already suggested it. on the tenth anniversary of BComúwith an eye on Podemos. When Rufián's proposal resurfaced this month, Colau was even more explicit"I think it's very positive. I'm very grateful for Rufián's intervention, and it's welcome if it helps to talk about joining forces and broadening that democratic front."

Now then, the latest mutation of Rufián's proposalThe call to limit electoral competition for left-wing lists in order to maximize results was no longer so popular with Comuns. Some prominent voices within the party wondered this week, if he himself would be willing not to run for Barcelona, where the Commons came out ahead of the Republicans.

In any case, several sources within the Commons party consulted by ARA confirm that the possibility of the former mayor making the leap to Madrid is gaining traction again. Official sources from the Commons emphasize that she will "accompany" the new Sumar coalition—in fact, she will be at the event this Saturday—but that this does not mean she has to head a candidacy, following her departure from institutional politics to preside over the Common Sense Foundation. "No one is superfluous, and she will be where she wants to be, but we respect her personal decision [to leave the front lines]," summarize sources from the executive committee.

A context without Díaz

Back in 2022, as Colau was finishing her second and final term as mayor, there was speculation that she might lead the left-wing PSOE candidacy at the national level, and even that she might run for Minister of Housing. At that time, several party sources indicated that this was a possible scenario, while ruling out Colau leading the party in the Catalan Parliament. But Yolanda Díaz's rise to prominence as the leading figure of what would become Sumar thwarted those plans. Colau and Díaz enjoyed a period of political alliance. After that, Comuns distanced themselves.

Now the context is different. Yolanda Díaz isn't even attending Saturday's event to represent the new coalition, without Podemos. Candela López, a key figure in the negotiations for the new alliance, and the Minister of Culture, Ernest Urtasun, a powerful figure in Comuns in Madrid, are attending. Urtasun, also the spokesperson for Sumar, has secured a place in the highest-level talks with the PSOE: he's the minister carrying the weight of the negotiations, and Comuns wants to leverage his influence to also highlight the group's record in government. He's speaking at Saturday's event with this in mind.

Another prominent figure has been Gerardo Pisarello, a member of Congress and Colau's former right-hand man in the City Council. But his recent selection as the mayoral candidate for Comuns in Barcelona He sets his political sights on Barcelona, ​​not Madrid. Jaume Asens, who headed the list for the 2019 general election, is "fully focused" on his work as a Member of the European Parliament, sources close to him confirm. Another prominent name is Aina Vidal, spokesperson for Comuns and lead candidate for the 2023 general election, with a background in trade unionism and ties to the CCOO.

In search of charismatic leaders

The Comuns are aware that, with or without Colau, they need to find a candidate who embodies what she represented for this political space in 2015, with a view to future elections: a charismatic leader who can act as a catalyst to attract new voters. According to various sources, this is the ideal profile outlined in an internal report based on opinion poll data analyzed at the end of last year within the party leadership, which also emphasized the need to place the cost of living at the heart of the discourse. However, the desire to find this type of leader coexists with the concern of falling back into the trap of hyper-leadership. A former party leader told ARA that the various political organizations within the coalition need to discuss "minimum" methods and content, but also mechanisms for resolving conflicts and addressing potential primaries. "Otherwise, we risk remaining mired in debates about personalities or nominal figures," he warned.